Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg will miss next weekend’s round of fixtures for breaking protocol so he could watch an Ed Sheeran concert. Clattenburg travelled in his own car to officiate the West Bromwich - Crystal Palace match in order to get back to Newcastle in time to see the award-winning singer-songwriter perform at the Metro Radio Arena last Saturday. Premier League regulations require the referee and his assistants to travel together to and from games for integrity and security purposes.

Clattenburg also talked to Palace manager Neil Warnock while in his car, even though the Premier League code allows officials to speak to managers after a game only when all the assistants are present or with the permission of referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials. The PGMOL do not want a situation between manager and referee which might escalate to being one version of a conversation against the other. It is understood serial referee baiter Warnock had wanted to discuss with Clattenburg two incidents during the 2-2 draw at The Hawthorns, Wilfried Zaha being denied a penalty and a challenge by Craig Dawson on Julian Speroni that led to a goal and the injured keeper being substituted.

The Premier League called it ‘an internal matter’ that Clattenburg had not being given a match before expected Champions League duties next week.

Clattenburg has had a controversial career as an elite referee, including serving an eight-month suspension after an investigation into his personal life and business debts. Chelsea also made a formal complaint to the FA about his alleged use of inappropriate language towards John Obi Mikel, but the referee was cleared and the player disciplined.

According to Arbitro Internacional, three prospective referees invited to the FIFA Seminar in Chile failed the fitness tests. Apparently, South American referees have often fitness problems, a rare situation in other confederations. In the previous selection process for the 2014 World Cup, Brazilian referees Wilson Seneme and Leandro Vuaden lost their chances due to repeatedly failing FIFA fitness tests and were replaced by Sandro Ricci. This time, Patricio Loustau (ARG), Wilson Lamouroux (COL, photo) and Adrian Velez (COL) failed the FIFA interval test on 14 October. Two days later, Loustau passed the Yo-Yo test, while the results of Velez and Lamouroux are not yet known. The FIFA fitness instructor for CONMEBOL, Christian Rosen, was not present during the testing sessions, despite having travelled to the course in Chile.

UEFA president Michel Platini says he would like to see the introduction of a sin-bin for players who show dissent by talking back to referees.

In his book "Parlons Football" (Talking about football), released on Thursday, Platini, a former top player, launches the idea of creating a white card, to go alongside the existing red and yellow ones, to be used specifically to send players to the sin-bin if they talk back to referees. He says the move would help fight against the "craze of contesting the referee" which has become "a veritable epidemic in football". He also said the white card would be followed by a 10-minute spell on the sidelines. "It should not be confused in any way with the yellow card, which for its part is dedicated to fouls within the game," added the 59-year-old Frenchman, a legend in his country due to his feats as a player in the 1970s and 1980s. The measure was one of a number proposed by Platini in his book, including increasing the amount of substitutes allowed during games from three to five. He said he wanted to allow "two changes at half time while maintaining the possibility to make three more during the course of the match". Another idea is to remove the minimum age requirement for referees, allow goal line officials to enter the field of play and to put an end to the so-called “triple punishment”, when a player concedes a penalty and is sent-off for a professional foul, with a goal often being scored as well (becoming the third penalisation for the defending team). Instead, he argues there should be "a double punishment: penalty kick and yellow card if the foul is committed inside the penalty area; sending-off and free-kick if the foul is committed outside the penalty area".

A 2016 European Championship qualifier between Serbia and Albania was abandoned on Tuesday after scuffles among players and fans on the pitch over a banner featuring an Albanian flag that was flown above the stadium by a drone. English referee Martin Atkinson interrupted the match in the 41st minute when Serbia defender Stefan Mitrovic managed to grab the banner and Albania players tried to protect it. Several Serbian fans invaded the pitch and clashed with Albania players. The Group I match was later abandoned "due to a disturbance on the pitch," according to UEFA, with the score at 0-0. "The Euro 2016 Qualifying match between Serbia and Albania has been abandoned and the circumstances will be reported to the UEFA Disciplinary Body," European football's ruling body said in a statement.

Albanian fans had been warned against attending the game between the two Balkan rival nations that have had turbulent relations — mainly over the former ethnic Albanian-dominated Serbian province of Kosovo that declared independence in 2008. "We wanted to continue the match, but Albanian players said they were not psychologically ready," Serbia captain Branislav Ivanovic said. Both Serbian and Albanian fans have a long history of violence and racial abuse. In October 2010, the Italy-Serbia European Championship qualifier was disrupted in Genoa by violent Serbia fans. UEFA eventually awarded Italy a 3-0 win. On Tuesday, the Albanian anthem was loudly jeered by Serbian fans and derogatory chanting was heard throughout the first half. Serbian supporters also threw flares at the pitch. The drone, clearly visible in the lights of the stadium, made a series of passes above the pitch. The banner displayed an Albanian flag and a map of so-called "Greater Albania," an area that comprises territory within today's Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia and northern Greece. The banner also portrayed two Albanian nationalist leaders — Ismail Qemali, who declared Albania's independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1912 and Isa Boletini, an Albanian fighter against the Turks. Fearing trouble, hundreds of riot police were deployed inside and outside the Partizan stadium in Belgrade. Dozens of Albanian fans, mostly from Kosovo and Montenegro, apparently managed to get inside despite warnings by Serbian security officials that they would be arrested if they carry Albanian symbols. On his Twitter page, Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama congratulated Albanian players for their courage before the match was abandoned and added that he was "sorry for the neighbours who left a bad worldwide image with the ugly show". According to Reuters, Serbian state television reported that Olsi Rama, the brother of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, was arrested in the VIP Box for instigating the stunt and was found with a remote. “He was arrested on suspicion that he masterminded and executed the incident in which a flag with a map of greater Albania was flown over the pitch and the terraces, after which the match between Serbia and Albania was abandoned”, Serbian state television said on its official website. Bizarrely, the announcer at the stadium played Cher's “Believe” in an attempt to calm fans during the break, to no avail. After a delay of around half an hour, Atkinson abandoned the game. UEFA delegate Harry Been told journalists: “It is a regretful situation on which we will report; the referee, myself and the security advisor. The circumstances were such that we couldn’t continue the match. You all saw what happened and I cannot comment on who is to blame or what to blame. I will submit a report with my colleagues to UEFA and UEFA will decide what will happen further”.

A small pipe bomb exploded outside the offices of Cyprus’s referees association, according to police who confirmed a second attack on members of the profession in a month. The small-density explosive caused slight damage outside the Nicosia offices of the association at about 3.30 am, a police spokesman said. A fire bomb was recently thrown at the home of an assistant referee in the coastal town of Limassol. There have been no arrests.

Cypriot football occasionally experiences outbursts of violence and referees are regularly targeted. The most serious attack arrived in February when the Cypriot federation banned all first division games for a week after a bomb damaged the car of one their top officials, Leontios Trattou (photo). Police said the low-yield explosive device placed at the clubhouse entrance in the pre-dawn hours Monday caused minor damage. In a letter to the president of the Cyprus FA, Blatter wrote: “I would like to express my condemnation of the cowardly bomb attack carried out on the headquarters of the Cyprus Referees Association”.

FIFA has recently made two changes to their Referees Committee for the next two years. In the Competition section, Carlos Batres (GUA) has been replaced by Alfredo Whittaker (CAY, photo), while Pierre Mounguengui (GAB) replaced Belaid Lacarne (ALG) in the Development section.

The deployment of additional assistant referees (AARs) in UEFA's major club and national team competitions is now being underpinned with specific training to further improve the match officials who are making the system such a success. UEFA has held its inaugural course for additional assistant refereeing in Nyon, with 40 officials who undertake this duty at European matches invited for two days of feedback, analysis and training sessions designed to review how the AAR system has proved its worth since its introduction, and how the system and AARs' work can be fine-tuned for the future. Under the system, the referee, two assistants and fourth official are joined by two additional assistant referees positioned alongside each goal, with the particular brief to watch for penalty-area incidents such as pushing or holding, or to decide whether the ball has crossed the line for a goal.

The experiment with additional assistant referees began in 2008. Following trial use in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Super Cup, football's lawmakers – the International Football Association Board (IFAB) – agreed in July 2012 that the use of two AARs should be anchored in the Laws of the Game, and UEFA is now deploying the system in its club competitions.

UEFA chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina was joined in Nyon by deputy officers Hugh Dallas and Marc Batta to guide 40 AARs from across Europe through the course. UEFA's referee fitness and training expert Werner Helsen was on hand with his team to take the training exercises. Dallas emphasised the positive results that have emerged from the implementation of the AAR system. "We've seen a huge reduction in errors on offside decisions by assistant referees, because the assistant referee is concentrating solely on [that]," he said. "He doesn't need to worry about foul play in the penalty area. The [AAR] has brought more control in the penalty area for the referee – we are seeing fewer infringements, and a huge reduction in holding and pulling [there], because of the preventative action that AARs take. In addition, the referee feels a lot more comfortable because the penalty area is much more under control." At the Nyon course, the AARs were given expert guidance in areas such as positioning, focus, concentration and anticipation, movement and active behaviour on the goal line, and the need for clear, concise communication and effective teamwork with the referee. "Additional assistant referees play such an important role in UEFA's top club competitions, so it's vital that we continue to educate them and assess their abilities," said Dallas. "There are additional [training] benefits, in that some of the officials here are not AARs; they are referees who are also operating with AARs. We need to make sure that AARs are prepared to the highest level, so we are working on several aspects. As a referee, you follow the ball. What we're trying to do is train a splitting of focus. The referee and AAR have to know who is watching what, such as when things are happening off the ball. We need to make sure that two officials do not watch the same area. One official should be looking at the next phase of play, so we're especially trying to train anticipation of what's going to happen next. The role of AARs is totally different to assistant referees and referees from a physical point of view," Werner Helen reflected. "In terms of perception and decision-making, they have a very important role to play, and this is where our expertise comes in. The very small details are important, such as the position of the head in the event of 'goal/no goal' decisions. A movement of the head of five centimetres can actually make a big difference. When AARs have to decide whether the ball has crossed the goal line, they should be able to draw a line from the back side of the first post to the back side of the second post. If they can do this, they will be in a perfect position to judge if the ball has fully crossed the line or not." UEFA's training for AARs now also involves online and special website preparation though the study of match incidents and situations. "It became clear that this is a 'practice-poor' environment," Helsen explained. "Officials have used matches to learn and gain experience. What we now want to do is give them additional tools to gain very important experience before they go on to the pitch. The [AARs] have been asked to log on to the website and address 60 incidents online. We were able to follow the results, and [in Nyon], they have been given feedback on how they did." Collina offered positive encouragement and insight to the participants. "UEFA trusts this system very much, we are convinced of its benefits," he said. "We have already seen important [on-field] decisions taken thanks to the AARs; you are helping the referee to have better control. But we must always look for improvement. We feel that working with you will help improve your performances because you are part of a team – a very important part".

Sonia Denoncourt will be leaving FIFA in December, after nine years of leading the Women’s Refereeing. She will return to North America as the new Director of the CONCACAF Referee Department, position vacated by Brian Hall.

Denoncourt refereed the women's Olympic Final in Sydney, Australia, in 2000, between the United States and Norway. Sonia was also the first person to referee a game at the first ever Women’s Olympic Football Tournament. She started refereeing in 1978 and worked her way up until she reached the international level, spending 10 years (1994-2004) on the FIFA List. In the second Women's World Cup in Sweden, in 1995, she refereed three games and in 1996 another three games, including the opening game, quarter final and semi-final. Later, also in 1996, she became the first woman to referee a men’s first division game in El Salvador and in 1997 a men's first division game in Brazil. In 1999, she did the opening game of the Women's World Cup at Giants Stadium in New York. During the 2003 Women's World Cup, Sonia refereed the semi-final between Germany and the United States. In terms of international appearances she refereed over 100 games. Not being selected for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she announced her retirement from refereeing in July 2004 and the following year was appointed as a FIFA referee instructor. Denoncourt started her work in administration in 2001, as the Director of Referee Development for the Canadian Soccer Association. Sonia held that position until 2005, when she became the Head of FIFA Women’s Refereeing.

In spite of many rumours about an imminent removal of the age limits for international referees, the rules are unchanged: FIFA will not be accepting referees older than 45 in 2015. The only news is that the deadline for nominations was changed from 20 September to 26 October, with the approval scheduled for the FIFA Referees Committee meeting on 26-27 November 2014.

Following the recent meeting of its Executive Committee, FIFA sent out circular no. 1444 regarding the 2015 FIFA Refereeing International Lists: “We look forward to receiving your nominations for international referees, assistant referees, futsal referees and beach soccer referees via the link provided to you in the body of the email accompanying this circular. The deadline to nominate international referees for the upcoming year is 26 October 2014. We have attached the regulations governing the registration of international referees, assistant referees, futsal referees and beach soccer referees on FIFA's lists for your convenience.
We would also like to bring the following points to your attention:

1. The proposed referees shall be at least 25 years old (23 years old in the case of assistant referees) and shall not have reached the age of 45 on 1 January of the year for which they have been nominated; candidates may not be older than 38 in the year in which they are nominated unless they have previously appeared on the list for which they are being proposed.

2. Newly nominated referees must be born no later than 1989 and assistant referees must be born no later than 1991 (two years younger) in order to ensure a minimum level of experience.

3. Each candidate must be ranked based on the marks obtained for officiating games at the national level during the 12 months prior to being nominated to the list of international referees. Please do not put the nominees in alphabetical order.

4. At a minimum, all nominated referees must pass a FIFA-approved fitness test and a medical examination on or after 26 May 2014.

The FIFA Referees Committee will carefully consider all nominations submitted by each member association before deciding who will be named on the upcoming international lists.”